Geopolitics combines geography and politics to analyze a region’s political situation considering its history, culture, and socio-economic status. The term was coined by Rudolf Kjellen and is used by various professionals. The geopolitical environment can change over time due to changing world environments or the rise of powerful countries like China.
Geopolitics, in a sense, combines the study of geography with the study of politics. Geography refers to the physical landforms, size and resources while politics refers to the relationships between or between states or regions. A geopolitical environment, therefore, refers to the political situation of a region considering the geography, history, religion, culture, governmental structure and socio-economic situation of the countries. The term can also be applied more narrowly to discuss the political situation of an individual country given their geographic realities, or more broadly to consider the environment of an entire continent. The geopolitical environment of Africa or the Middle East, for example, is often discussed.
The term geopolitics is said to have been coined in the early 20th century by a Swedish political scientist, Rudolf Kjellen. Since its inception it has become a popular term used by political scientists, historians, environmentalists and sociologists. In many ways, analyzing a region’s geopolitical environment attempts to gain insight into the various aspects that influence a region’s politics, culture, and industry.
Before the term was coined, historians, political scientists, and archaeologists often debated how a region’s geography shaped its people. For example, Saudi Arabia’s geography, namely its central location between the Asian, African and European continents, is said to have greatly influenced its development in trade over the previous centuries.
The geopolitical environment of a country or region can also change over time. While geography may remain static, the changing world environment can affect the political power of an area. As the world is currently dependent on oil, areas rich in oil resources have the most power. But, before the industrial revolution, and if alternative energy sources become common, oil-rich countries and regions could lose some of the political power associated with their oil reserves.
Alternatively, the geopolitical environment can change dramatically as different countries become more powerful. As China, for example, develops economically, its vast resource of human capital and minerals, as well as its size, combined with other geographic, historical, religious and political factors can dramatically change the world’s geopolitical environment.
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